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Reimplemented by: N/A Jump Drive + 2 more

Rank:

Overall 83

Strategy 77

7.7 --

Race for the Galaxy (2007)

Worlds await! Colonize, develop and conquer, taking advantage of others' choices.

57K Ratings & 11K Comments · GeekBuddy Analysis

Number of Players

2–4 Players
Play Time

30–60 Min

Playing Time
Suggested Age

Age: 12+
Complexity

Weight: –– 2.99 / 5 Complexity Rating

Learn more about complexity ratings

Alternate Names
Dobyvatelé Vesmíru + 8 more
Designer
N/A Thomas Lehmann + 0 more
Artist
N/A Martin Hoffmann, Claus Stephan + 0 more
Publisher
N/A Rio Grande Games + 19 more

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"Race for the Galaxy" Spanish edition box cover.

All what you get. Cards are sorted to give a nice overview of the different types and resources. All developments have 2 copies except the 6 costs ones. The parts of cards that are covered contain no important information for the most part.

Race for the Galaxy, Rio Grande Games First Edition, components

Action card backs - each color has its own illustration

730

Images

Description

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Classification

In Race for the Galaxy, players build galactic civilizations by playing cards representing worlds or technical and social developments.

Each round, players secretly and simultaneously select an action card corresponding to one phase of a round. These phases let players draw cards, play cards, add goods to worlds, or consume goods for VP chips. Only the phases chosen will occur that round. Every player may act in a phase that occurs, but the players who chose that phase get a bonus.

Game end is triggered either when a player has built a civilization of 12 cards or when the pool of VP chips is exhausted. Each player then totals the victory points in their tableau plus any VP chips earned during play.

Detailed Overview
Race for the Galaxy tells a story of galactic discovery and expansion through a single deck of cards. Every card in the deck represents either a world that you might settle or a development that you might implement. Cards placed into your tableau represent your current achievements -- worlds you have colonized, technology you now wield -- while cards in your hand represent the options currently available to you.

To play a card, discard the number of cards equal to its cost, representing other opportunities you must forgo to concentrate on your current course. Once in your tableau, a card provides special powers during the game and, at the end, its listed number of victory points. Many worlds, once placed, also produce goods that can be traded for more cards or consumed for VP chips.

Race for the Galaxy is played in rounds. In each round, you and your opponents secretly select an action phase for the upcoming turn. You can choose to:
• Place a world in your tableau with settle or a development with develop.
• Produce goods on worlds with produce.
• Consume goods for VPs with consume.
• Add cards to your hand with explore or by trading a good.

Each round, only those phases that are selected will occur -- but they'll occur for everyone. Selecting a phase both ensures that it occurs that round and gains the selecting player a bonus.

Round follows round until someone builds their tableau to twelve cards, or until the last VP chip is claimed. The victor is the player with the most VPs.

2018 UPDATE
The second edition of the game is improved for CVD (color blindness) and includes 5 revised cards from the original version and 6 New Worlds promo homeworlds. The promo homeworlds and first edition compatible Revised Cards are both available for purchase through the BGG store.

UPC 655132003018

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Official Links

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Additional Suggestions

Language Dependence Learn more about language dependence

Some necessary text - easily memorized or small crib sheet

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BGG Item ID: 28143

GeekUp Bit Set: Race/Roll for the Galaxy, Jump Drive, or New Frontiers

$13.00 via BGG Store

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Hot Review

Dice Tower Reviews: Race for the Galaxy

review TomVasel · 13 years ago · English

228 10

Hot "How To Play"

How to play Race for the Galaxy

instructional Untoldent · 7 years ago · English

201 22

Latest Video

Race For The Galaxy | Playthrough

session Dads_and_Dice · 2 days ago · English

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In-Depth Reviews

Hot Reviews

596 42

Beyond the Hype: a blissfully ignorant review of RftG

W4st (2 reviews) · 17 years ago
413 50

Card By Card - A Review of the 95 Different Cards in the base set of Race…

huber (36 reviews) · 17 years ago

Recent Reviews

29 2

Exploring the Cosmos!

Boardgameswithb7 (230 reviews) · 5 months ago
2 0

The Boardgame Mechanics Review Race for the Galaxy

BoardgameMechanics (820 reviews) · 6 months ago · English
121 26

Some words on a game I've played thousands of times

RustyBaker (30 reviews) · 7 months ago
3 1

Review

smpeter (66 reviews) · 1 year ago · Greek
46 22

I’ve played Race for the Galaxy 100 times; you should try it once, at least

bnordeng (23 reviews) · 1 year ago

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Race for the Galaxy

Race for the Galaxy AI
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General mrkeldon · 16 years ago
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Race for the Galaxy

Beyond the Hype: a blissfully ignorant review of RftG
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All the Phase Icons on One Page (PDF)

With 70+ icons/icon combinations to learn, some new players can find it a bit overwhelming…

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Comprehensive RftG Reference Guide - Base plus 3 expansions

Ultimate Player Aid: a Summary of all Icons and Chits from the base game and…

fubar awol · 14 years ago · English

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Community Wiki

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Rules PDF

Contents (First Edition):

5 Start World Cards
109 Game Cards:
- 59 Worlds Cards
- 50 Developments Cards
4 Sets of 7 Player Action Cards (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow)
8 Duplicate Action Cards (2-Player Games)
4 Summary Sheets
28 Victory Point Chips:
- 18 x "1"
- 6 x "5"
- 4 x "10"
Instructions

Contents (Second Edition):

11 Start World Cards
109 Game Cards:
- 59 Worlds Cards
- 50 Developments Cards
4 Sets of 7 Player Action Cards (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow)
8 Duplicate Action Cards (2-Player Games)
4 Summary Sheets
28 Victory Point Chips:
- 18 x "1"
- 6 x "5"
- 4 x "10"
Instructions

Race for the Galaxy's development began when Thomas Lehmann, at Alea's request, started work on a card game version of Puerto Rico in parallel with Andreas Seyfarth's own. Their independent efforts resulted in some degree of collaboration, and though some of Mr. Lehmann's design ideas did make it into what eventually became San Juan, he continued to develop his concepts, taking the theme and other elements from an unpublished customizable card game he had previously designed.

Race for the Galaxy benefits from an unusually thorough development process, involving thousands of test games and the deliberate design of an unusually coherent iconography (by onigame and the graphics designer, Mirko Suzuki) as well as a unique approach to player interaction that prevents direct conflict and encourages "parasitic conflict".

Expansions

Five expansions have been published (3 Arcs - One 3 expansion Arc and two single expansion Arcs), adding new cards, game features, start worlds, as well as supporting up to 6 players and solo play. Each expansion arc required the base game and is not officially compatible with the other arcs.

First Arc - The Descent into War
The first expansion arc comprises 3 expansions, each of which is designed to be played with the earlier expansions. The storyline covers the exploration of the galaxy and the growing conflict between the Galactic Imperium and the Rebels.

The first is The Gathering Storm (2008), adding goals, solitaire play, another player, and drafting rules.
The second is Rebel vs Imperium (2009), adding military takeovers and another player.
The third is The Brink of War (2010), adding prestige and search rules.

Second Arc - Alien Artifacts
The second arc consists of a single expansion. The story is set between the base game and the first arc and covers the discovery and exploration of a mysterious Alien orb.

Expansion four - Alien Artifacts (2013). Adds new cards and an optional Alien orb to explore. (This branches from the previous three and is not compatible with them.)

Third Arc - Xeno Invasion
The third arc consists of a single expansion (a second expansion is in the pipeline):

Expansion five - Xeno Invasion (2015). Adds 51 new cards and an optional Invasion Game.
Expansion six - Xeno Counter Strike has been green-lit by the publisher: First mention, Followup thread. The expansion is in early development and no due date has been reported.

Spin offs

Roll for the Galaxy - A dice game set in the Race for the Galaxy universe.
Jump Drive - A shorter, lighter card game set in the Race for the Galaxy universe.
New Frontiers - A board game version of Race for the Galaxy.

FAQ

A BGG FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page for Race for the Galaxy and its expansions can be found at the Rules FAQ or by setting the BGG search to "wiki" and entering "Race FAQ".

A draft pdf from the publisher showing sample rounds of play can be downloaded.

Online Play

Board Game Arena (real-time or turn-based)

Race for the Galaxy AI:

Rio Grande Games granted permission to release a Race for the Galaxy AI to the public. Great for solitaire play and refining your RftG skills, it also now features online play. Posted by mrkeldon, may he be granted many Thumbs, donations, and GG!
BGG Thread: Race for the Galaxy AI
AI Link: http://keldon.net/rftg/

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